The culture of Russia during the feudal fragmentation is brief. Causes of feudal fragmentation

26.03.2019

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The development of culture took place in difficult conditions of the fragmentation of the Russian lands. However, despite constant civil strife and threats from neighboring states and tribes, there were achievements and successes in the ancient Russian culture of this period. The Oka became more democratic: new territories, cities, and new strata of society were actively involved in cultural life. For example, the customers of religious buildings, monumental paintings and precious jewelry were not only princes and boyars, but also wealthy representatives of the urban population, who had their own views, tastes, ideas.

Changes took place in ancient Russian architecture. Russian architects began to move away from traditional Byzantine architectural canons and forms and, under the influence of local conditions, began to look for new solutions. Architectural schools arose in the appanage principalities, which differed in their characteristics. Known are the Kiev, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl architectural schools, which were united by a single style. In Russia, they began to build smaller temples with a simplified design. The interior and exterior decoration of the temples has changed. The new decoration of the facades became more characteristic: they began to be decorated with pilasters, half-columns, arcature belts and the so-called curb.

The growth and strengthening of cities - the political and cultural centers of individual principalities - was accompanied by the construction of a large number of religious and civil buildings in Kiev, Chernigov, Galich, Pereyaslav and many other cities. Some of them have survived to this day.

The most famous of them are: the Church of the Theotokos Pirogoscha (1132) in Kiev on Podol, Borisoglebsk and Assumption Cathedrals of the Yeletsky Monastery in Chernigov, etc.

The interior of ancient Russian palaces and temples, as before, was decorated with mosaics, frescoes, mosaic floors and various items of applied art. The latter were used not only as ornaments, but often played the role of amulets-amulets and were designed to protect their owners from the evil forces of nature. The role of amulets was also played by magical ornaments, which adorned many of their products by master jewelers and artisans who created household items. During the period of fragmentation, the writing of chronicles continued. New centers of chronicle writing appeared in Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Kholm, Vladimir-Volynsky. Some monasteries had entire libraries that consisted exclusively of chronicles. These chronicles were used by subsequent generations of chroniclers, who created whole chronicles, depicting the events of past years from different points of view, and trying to give these events the most objective assessment.

New original forms of historical works have appeared; family and ancestral princely chronicles, biographies of princes, etc. Unfortunately, most of these works have not survived.

A masterpiece of ancient Russian fiction is "The Word about Igor's regiment". This work was written in a difficult time for Russia, when it suffered from the raids of the Polovtsians, and tells about the unsuccessful campaign of the Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians in 1185. The word is permeated with the idea of uniting all the forces of Russia to fight enemies. Using the example of the defeat of Prince Igor, the author of the Lay tried to show what the disputes and hostility of the princes could lead to.

The Galicia-Volyn land became the center of the cultural life of the Ukrainian principalities during the fragmentation period. Just like everywhere else at that time, important role the church played in the development of culture. Chronicles were created in monasteries. The most famous is the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle, which covers the events of the Galician and Volyn lands from 1201 to 1292. The peculiarity of this chronicle is its secular character. The author of the chronicle figuratively tells about the time of the reign of Roman and Danila, about the life of princes and boyars, about the military campaigns of Russian squads, about their struggle against the Tatars, Hungarians, Poles and other conquerors.

The region's architecture was a striking evidence of the high level of culture. They built mainly from wood, for a long time temples remained stone buildings, in some cases chambers.

Temples were built mainly of white stone using carved
ornaments. Archaeologists have established that in Galich in the XII century there were about 30
monumental stone buildings, but only a small part of them
studied to date. Interesting architectural monuments
Galician land is the prince's palace and the Church of Panteleimon in Galich.

Galician and Volyn principality, at the turn of the XII and XIII centuries. merged into a single Galicia-Volyn principality, in the second half of the XII century. and in the XIII century, at a time of decline Kiev principality, achieve significant political power and cultural flourishing. The princes of Yaroslav Osmomysl, Roman Mstislavich, his sons Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich and grandson Vladimir Vasilkovich are associated with the most glorious pages of Galicia-Volyn history. But from the beginning of the XIV century. The Galicia-Volyn land is politically weakening and in the middle of the same century it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian state.

Galicia-Volyn literature, which developed on the basis of the Kiev literary tradition, if not quantitatively, then qualitatively stood at a considerable height. A number of lists of the Gospel text have come down to us, including the Galician Four Gospel of 1144, the Dobril Gospel of 1164, etc., the lives of Niphont and Fyodor the Studite in the Vygoleksin collection of the 12th-13th centuries Pandects of Antiochus 1307 and other handwritten books of the 12th-13th centuries centuries The chronicler describes Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich as a "great scribe" and a philosopher, which was not in the whole earth. " In one of the monasteries, he donated the gospel, rewritten by his hand, as well as the "Great Cathedral", which belonged to his father. He sent liturgical books to several churches, including the Aprakos Gospel to Chernigov, written in gold and richly decorated. On his initiative, the complete life of Dmitry Solunsky, the Handling Book and, probably, the Conversations of Grigory Dvoeslov were written off. He had collaborators, just like him, book lovers, who were engaged in the correspondence of liturgical and four books. Among the Galician-Volyn leaders of that time, Metropolitan Peter should be mentioned.

In the second half of the XIII century. in the Galicia-Volyn land, a collection was apparently compiled (used in the so-called Archive collection of the 15th century and in the Vilna manuscript), which included the Explanatory Apocalypse, the Chronograph, which contained the biblical books, the chronicles of George Amartol and John Malala, Alexandria and the History of the Jewish War of Josephus; further - under the title "Russian chronicler" - The Tale of Bygone Years and a collection of the type Izbornik Svyatoslav 1073

Thus, the Galicia-Volyn land in the XII-XIII centuries. owned the best works translated and Russian historical literature of the Kiev period.

Book activity in the Galicia-Volyn land continued, although not so intensively even after it had lost its political independence.

There can be no doubt that many literary monuments perished in the turbulent historical situation that fell to the lot of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

Chronicle writing in Galicia apparently began in the 11th century. judging by individual stories, which undoubtedly entered the Galician Chronicle in the "Tale of Bygone Years" and in the Kiev Chronicle (description of the blinding of Prince Vasilko and the subsequent events of 1098-1100, set out under 1097). Preserved precisely in the Russian lists, based on sources included in the Russian environment, the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle of the 13th century. supported in northeastern Russia the traditions of that squad poetry, the highest achievement of which at the end of the 12th century. there was a Word about Igor's regiment,

Art of the Galicia-Volyn land of the XII-XIII centuries. cannot be divided by the face of the Mongol conquest into two halves. Higher military training of the Galician armed forces, strong defensive walls of the city centers impeded the speed of the Tatar conquest, and the subsequent international policy of Daniil Galitsky softened the hardships of the Tatar yoke and ensured an almost normal course of social life, and with it the development of art. Here, as in Novgorod, which avoided the direct destruction of the land by the Mongol hordes, the fateful 1238-1240. did not interrupt cultural development.

The origins of the art of Galicia-Volyn Rus are associated with the treasury of artistic culture common to all from the ancient Russian principalities - the art of the Kiev land. We can judge about Galicia-Volyn art only by the monuments of architecture, which, moreover, are poorly studied and are represented almost exclusively by archaeologically uncovered ruins of temples.

In the Kiev architecture of the XI-XII centuries. the beginning of the solution of a number of new tasks was laid - the city cathedral of the appanage capital, the palace princely temple and the ensemble of the princely or generally feudal residence as a whole; they were given in the cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersky monastery, in the Church of the Savior on Berestovo - the country palace of Monomakh, and then repeated many times with various modifications, both in the construction of Kiev itself and other feudal centers of the 12th century; Galich and Vladimir-Volynsky were among them.

It is very important to note the features of originality that distinguish the architecture of Volyn and Galicia. Monuments of Vladimir-Volynsky - Mstislav Assumption Cathedral (1157-1160) and the ruins of a temple located in the Old Cathedra tract, apparently dating back to the same time, are extremely close to the Kiev-Chernigov monuments.

Volhynia in art, as well as in literature, was the direct heir to the Kiev land and quite zealously followed its traditions.

Galich's art followed a slightly different path and perceived the artistic heritage and canonical samples more critically. The originality of Galician architecture was promoted by itself international position Galich, which facilitated direct communication with Western Europe and the direct impact of Western artistic culture. The abundance of natural building stone made it possible to replace ordinary brick with it and enriched the possibilities of decorative processing of buildings - carving, the play of different tones of facing stone, etc. (Back in the middle of the 12th century) a complex architectural ensemble of the princely palace was created in Galich. The story of the chronicle about the circumstances of the death of Prince Vladimir Galitsky depicts this building for us in the form of a series of buildings: the residential part of the palace, the "entrance" and the palace temple, united by a system of passages; this composition is based on the significant development that has received here (the system of rich wooden dwelling - "chorus", which was established even in the conditions of life of the princely squads of the upper reaches of Kievan Rus. The foundations of the white-stone palace church of the Savior, discovered by excavations, provide a typical example of buildings of this kind. The Galician Palace reveals many common devil with the composition of the Bogolyubovsky castle of the XII century.

Built at the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. the Church of Panteleimon in Galich with its portals and carvings of a Romanesque character shows how the Kiev heritage is re-formed in Galician architecture, how Romanesque features are laid on the all-Russian Kiev-Byzantine basis, creating a peculiar appearance of architecture.

It has been developing especially magnificently since the 40s of the XIII century. This fact cannot but be connected with the above-mentioned circumstance that the Galicia-Volyn land was that corner of the Russian land, where cultural development continued in the first years of Mongol rule, where social life did not end. All the cultural forces that escaped captivity and death, undoubtedly, rushed here; The chronicle, telling about the development of the Kholm, paints a colorful picture of the settlement of the new princely city; at the call of the prince “the parishioners of the Germans and Russia are foreign languages and Lyakhs I go day and day and the unots and masters of the begehu_is Tatars, the saddlery and the archers and the tulnitsa and the forge of iron and copper and silver, and be life, and filled the courtyards around the city, the field and the villages ".

It is in connection with this story about the multitude of masters of various professions who flocked to the Galician land that the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle informs about the wonderful buildings created in the 40-50s by Prince Daniel in Kholm, which caused genuine delight and surprise of contemporaries.

The church of Ivan deserved special attention and admiration of the chronicler: its vaults rested on carved four-sided capitals depicting human heads. “Sculpted from a certain khytrets”, “Roman glass”, that is, colored stained-glass windows on the windows of the temple, created a whimsical illumination of its interior space; in the altar above the throne a beautiful canopy rose on two columns of solid stone A ciborium decorated with gilded stars against an azure background; the floor was molded of copper and tin and shone like a mirror.

Another building of the Hill - the Church of Mary (1260), was not inferior, according to the chronicler, in its beauty and size to other temples. For this church, a beautiful red marble water-blessing bowl was made, decorated with snake heads along the edges. The bowl was placed in front of the main church doors, as was done near the temples of that time in the West.

These characteristics, dedicated to the Kholmsk buildings by the chronicler, reveal before us an extremely complex and peculiar composition of its constituent elements. The appearance of the Kholmsk temples allows you to see a kind of interweaving of features born in the development of ancient Russian architecture of the 12th century, with clearly borrowed techniques of Romanesque art. The same features are characteristic of the second half of the 12th century. in the Vladimir principality; moreover, certain details of the decoration and design of the buildings of the Bogolyubov Castle (1158-1165) are so strikingly repeated a century later in Kholm that the idea arises of the possibility of direct work by Prince Daniel of Vladimir architects and carvers who fled from Tatar captivity, and, together with other masters who built and decorated the Kholm temples.

The Galician-Volyn culture is characterized by the absence of a sharply expressed and irreconcilable religious and national aversion to the "Latin" world, and this feature of it also contributed to the enrichment of art by acquaintance with the West. The appeal to Romanesque art was quite understandable for Vladimir of the 12th century. and for Galician Russia of the XIII century, since this art more fully than Byzantine, expressed the ideas and tastes of the feudal world, the leading representatives of which in Russia in the XII century. were Vladimir "autocrats", and in the XIII century. - Galician-Volyn "king" Daniel.

On the other hand, turning to Western culture was a peculiar form of asserting one's own paths of artistic and cultural development in general and a departure from traditions.

This also explains the significant fact that in Galicia-Volyn art, in contrast to other principalities, the art of sculpting was significantly developed, which was denied by the Byzantine Orthodox Church when applied to religious subjects. It was expressed here not only in the decorative plastics of the Kholm temples, but developed into an independent branch of art, even of a secular nature. The chronicle tells about an interesting statue erected by Prince Daniel outside the city of Kholm, probably on the way to it.

The same influence of Romanesque art is felt in the Galician-Volyn painting, which can be judged only by a few miniatures.

They traced the techniques of Romano-Gothic painting, both in terms of the color scale and in the very construction of the pictorial image.

So, the Galician-Volyn art of the XIII century. is one of the brightest and most significant pages of history ancient Russian art... Having begun its journey along with literature from a common source for all of ancient Russia - Kiev-Byzantine artistic culture, it was enriched by communication with the art of its western neighbors. These contributions were organically assimilated by Galician masters, who created quite original and high-quality monuments of art of Galicia-Volyn Rus.

The principality became the heiress of K. Rus, fought for the reunification and consolidation of lands, promoted the development of the economy, cities, crafts, trade, and culture; contributed to the protection of the population of the southwestern lands from physical destruction by the Mongol-Tatars; raised the authority of the Ukrainian lands in the international arena, especially in the conditions of feudal fragmentation.

Galicia-Volyn principality after the decline of Kiev continued its existence for a century public education on the Slavic lands and became the main political center of the future Ukraine.

The word "Ukrainian" was first used in the Sermons of the theologian Gregory in the middle of the 11th century. The term "Ukraine" is mentioned in the Kiev Chronicle in 1187 as a synonym for the concept of "krasha", that is, the land, the native land (for comparison: Serbia. In Serbo-Croatian - Serbska Krasa). Since 1335 Galicia began to use the concept of "Little Russia" borrowed from the Greeks, which later became the concept of "Little Russia". However, in different periods, it designated different regions of Ukraine.

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Culture of Russia during the period of feudal fragmentation. Kultuga of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

The development of culture took place in difficult conditions of the fragmentation of the Russian lands. At the same time, despite constant civil strife and threats from neighboring states and tribes, there were achievements and successes in the ancient Russian culture of this period. The Oka became more democratic: new territories, cities, and new strata of society were actively involved in cultural life. For example, the customers of religious buildings, monumental paintings and precious jewelry were not only princes and boyars, but also wealthy representatives of the urban population, who had their own views, tastes, ideas.

The most famous of them are: the Church of the Theotokos Pirogoscha (1132) in Kiev on Podol, Borisoglebsk and Assumption Cathedrals of the Yeletsky Monastery in Chernigov, etc.

New original forms of historical works have appeared; family and ancestral princely chronicles, biographies of princes, etc.
Posted on ref.rf
Unfortunately, most of these works have not survived.

A masterpiece of ancient Russian, fiction is the "Word about Igor's Regiment". This work was written in a difficult time for Russia, when it suffered from the raids of the Polovtsians, and tells about the unsuccessful campaign of the Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians in 1185. The word is permeated with the idea of uniting all the forces of Russia to fight enemies. Using the example of the defeat of Prince Igor, the author of the Word tried to show what the disputes and hostility of the princes can lead to.

The Galicia-Volyn land became the center of the cultural life of the Ukrainian principalities during the fragmentation period. As elsewhere at that time, the church played an important role in the development of culture. Chronicles were created in monasteries. The most famous is the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle, which covers the events of the Galician and Volyn lands from 1201 to 1292. The peculiarity of this chronicle is its secular character.
Posted on ref.rf
The author of the chronicle figuratively tells about the time of the reign of Roman and Danila, about the life of princes and boyars, about the military campaigns of Russian squads, about their struggle against the Tatars, Hungarians, Poles and other conquerors.

The region's architecture was a striking evidence of the high level of culture. They built mainly from wood, for a long time temples remained stone buildings, in some cases chambers.

Temples were built mainly of white stone with carved ornaments. Archaeologists have established that there were about 30 monumental stone buildings in Galich in the 12th century, but only a small part of them have been studied to date. Interesting architectural monuments of the Galician land are the prince's palace and the Church of Panteleeimon in Galich.

Galician and Volyn principality, at the turn of the XII and XIII centuries. merged into a single Galicia-Volyn principality, in the second half of the 12th century. and in the 13th century, at the time of the decline of the Kiev principality, they achieved significant political power and cultural flourishing. The princes of Yaroslav Osmomysl, Roman Mstislavich, his sons Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich and grandson Vladimir Vasilkovich are associated with the most glorious pages of Galicia-Volyn history. But from the beginning of the XIV century. The Galicia-Volyn land is politically weakening and in the half of the same century it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian state.

Galicia-Volhynia literary culture, which developed on the basis of the Kiev literary tradition, if not quantitatively, then qualitatively stood at a considerable height. A number of lists of the Gospel text have come down to us, incl. Galician Gospel of 1144 ᴦ., Dobril's Gospel of 1164 ᴦ. and others, the lives of Nifont and Fyodor the Studite in the Vygoleksin collection of the XII-XIII centuries by Pandect Antiochus 1307 ᴦ. and other handwritten books of the XII-XIII centuries. The chronicler describes Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich as a "great scribe" and a philosopher, which was not on the whole earth. In one of the monasteries, he donated the gospel, rewritten by his hand, as well as the "Great Collector", which belonged to his father. He sent liturgical books to several churches, incl. to Chernigov the aprakos gospel, written in gold and richly decorated. On his initiative, the complete life of Dmitry Solunsky, the Handling Book and, probably, the Conversations of Grigory Dvoeslov were written off. He had employees, just like him, book lovers, who were engaged in the correspondence of liturgical and other books. Metropolitan Peter should be mentioned among the Galician-Volyn figures of that time.

Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, Galicia-Volyn land in the XII-XIII centuries. owned the best works of translated and Russian historical literature of the Kiev period.

Book activity in the Galicia-Volyn land continued, although not so intensively even after it had lost its political independence.

There should be no doubt that many literary monuments perished in the turbulent historical situation that fell to the lot of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

Chronicle writing in Galicia apparently began in the 11th century. judging by individual stories that undoubtedly entered the Galician Chronicle in the Tale of Bygone Years and in the Kiev Chronicle (description of the blinding of Prince Vasilko and the subsequent events of 1098-1100, set out under 1097 ᴦ.). Preserved precisely in the Russian lists, based on sources included in the Russian environment, the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle of the 13th century. supported in northeastern Russia the traditions of that squad poetry, the highest achievement of which at the end of the 12th century. there was a Word about Igor's regiment,

It is very important to note the features of originality that distinguish the architecture of Volyn and Galicia. Monuments of Volodymyr-Volynsky - Mstislav Assumption Cathedral (1157-1160) and the ruins of a temple located in the Staraya Katedraʼʼ tract, apparently dating back to the same time, are extremely close to the Kiev-Chernigov monuments.

Volhynia in art, as well as in literature, was the direct heir to the Kiev land and quite zealously followed its traditions.

Galich's art followed a slightly different path and perceived the artistic heritage and canonical samples more critically. The originality of Galician architecture was facilitated by the very international position of Galich, which facilitated direct communication with Western Europe and the direct impact of Western artistic culture. The abundance of natural building stone allowed them to replace ordinary bricks and enriched the possibilities of decorative processing of buildings - carving, the play of different tones of facing stone, etc. (As early as the mid-12th century) a complex architectural ensemble of the princely palace was created in Galich. The story of the chronicle about the circumstances of the death of Prince Vladimir Galitsky depicts this building for us in the form of a set of buildings: the residential part of the palace, the "senei" and the palace temple, united by a system of passages; the basis of this composition is the significant development that has received here (the system of rich wooden housing - "khorom", which was established even in the conditions of life of the princely-squad upper reaches of Kievan Rus. The foundations of the white-stone palace church of the Savior, discovered by excavations, give a typical example of buildings of this kind. The Galician Palace reveals many similarities with composition of the Bogolyubovsky castle of the XII century.

Built at the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. The Church of Panteleeimon in Galich with its portals and carvings of the Romanesque character shows how the Kiev heritage is re-formed in Galician architecture, how Romanesque features are laid on the all-Russian Kiev-Byzantine basis, creating a peculiar appearance of architecture.

It has been developing especially magnificently since the 40s of the XIII century. This fact cannot but be connected with the above-mentioned circumstance that the Galicia-Volyn land was that corner of the Russian land, where cultural development continued in the first years of Mongol rule, where social life did not end. All cultural forces that had escaped captivity and death, undoubtedly, rushed here; The chronicle, telling about the development of the Kholm, paints a colorful picture of the settlement of the new princely city; at the call of the prince ʼʼpridhozhaa Germans and Rus foreign languages and Lyakhs I go day and in day and unots and masters of all kinds of begehu_is Tatars, sedelnitsy and archers and tulnitsy and forge iron and copper and silver, and be life, and filled the courtyards around the city, the field and villageʼʼ.

The church of Ivan deserved special attention and admiration of the chronicler: its vaults rested on carved four-sided capitals depicting human heads. “Sculpted from a certain khytrets”, “Roman glasses”, that is, colored stained-glass windows on the windows of the temple, created a whimsical illumination of its inner space; in the altar above the throne a beautiful canopy rose on two columns of solid stone A ciborium decorated with gilded stars against an azure background; the floor was molded of copper and tin and shone like a mirror.

The Galician-Volyn culture is characterized by the absence of a sharply expressed and irreconcilable religious and national disgust from the “Latin” world, and this feature of it also contributed to the enrichment of art by acquaintance with the West. The appeal to Romanesque art was quite understandable for Vladimir of the 12th century. and for Galician Russia of the XIII century, since this art more fully than Byzantine, expressed the ideas and tastes of the feudal world, the leading representatives of which in Russia in the XII century. were Vladimir "autocrats", and in the XIII century. - Galician-Volyn "king" Daniel.

On the other hand, turning to Western culture was a peculiar form of asserting one's own paths of artistic and cultural development in general and a departure from traditions.

This also explains the significant fact that in Galicia-Volyn art, in contrast to other principalities, the art of sculpting was significantly developed, which was denied by the Byzantine Orthodox Church when applied to religious subjects. It was expressed here not only in the decorative plastics of the Kholm temples, but developed into an independent branch of art, even of a secular nature.
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The chronicle tells about an interesting statue erected by Prince Daniel outside the city of Kholm, probably on the way to it.

The same influence of Romanesque art is felt in the Galician-Volyn painting, which can be judged only by a few miniatures.

They traced the techniques of Romano-Gothic painting, both in terms of the color scale and in the very construction of the pictorial image.

So, the Galician-Volyn art of the XIII century. is one of the brightest and most significant pages in the history of ancient Russian art. Having begun its journey along with literature from a common source for all ancient Russia - Kiev-Byzantine artistic culture, it was enriched by communication with the art of its Western neighbors. These contributions were organically assimilated by Galician masters, who created quite original and high-quality monuments of art of Galicia-Volyn Rus.

The principality became the successor of K. Rus, fought for the reunification and consolidation of lands, promoted the development of the economy, cities, crafts, trade, culture; helped to protect the population of the southwestern lands from physical destruction by the Mongol-Tatars; raised the authority of the Ukrainian lands in the international arena, especially in the conditions of feudal fragmentation.

After the decline of Kiev, the Galicia-Volyn principality continued for a whole century the existence of a state formation on the Slavic lands and became the main political center of the future Ukraine.

The word "Ukrainian" was first used in the "Sermons" of the theologian Gregory in the middle of the 11th century. The term “Ukraine” is mentioned in the Kiev Chronicle in 1187 ᴦ. as a synonym for the concept of "krasha", that is, the land, the native land (for comparison: Serbia. in Serbo-Croatian - Serbska Krasa). Since 1335, Galicia began to use the concept "Little Russia" borrowed from the Greeks, which later became the concept of "Little Russia". At the same time, in different periods, it designated different regions of Ukraine.

Culture of Russia during the period of feudal fragmentation. Kultuga of the Galicia-Volyn principality. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Culture of Russia during the period of feudal fragmentation. Culture of the Galicia-Volyn principality." 2017, 2018.

The Russian language and culture were enriched as a result of interaction with the culture of a number of peoples. This interaction is reflected in Suzdal architecture(which traces links with Georgian and Armenian architecture ), in Novgorod painting(in which there are common motives with Armenian fresco painting), in folklore and literature, where there are numerous references to other peoples, their culture and life.

Despite the dominance of theology, as the experience accumulated in the production and development of enlightenment grew (although it affected only a small part of society), the beginnings of knowledge in the field of study were spreading in Russia nature and history... Noticeably literacy grew among the feudal nobility, nobility and townspeople. Development historical knowledge received a vivid reflection in the annals. In all large cities, from Novgorod to Kholm, from Novgorodok to Ryazan, historical chronicles were kept and chronicles compiled (integral historical works, which were the processing of chronicle records). Until our time, only the Vladimir-Suzdal, Volyn and Novgorod chronicles have been partially preserved.

In Russia, as well as in other countries, there was a close connection between the development crafts, applied folk art and architecture... Since the society was dominated by religious ideology, the best examples of architecture were associated with the church, which was also a wealthy customer. With the transition to feudal fragmentation, architectural monuments became characterized by the reduced size of the temples, the simplification of their interior decoration and the gradual replacement of mosaics with frescoes. The dominant type of church architecture was the "cubic" temple with a heavy head. These changes were associated with the rapid spread of stone architecture.

V fine arts increased stylistic diversity, and local folk art often came into conflict with the dominant church ideology.

Applied arts and sculpture, less than painting associated with church canons, often reflected in their plots folk games and dances, scenes of struggle, etc. The art of minting coins, seals and stone carving (decoration of cathedrals, stone icons, etc.) reached a significant rise. The motives of folk art are richly reflected in embroidery, as well as in book decorations - headpieces, endings, capital letters, etc., where, along with floral and colored ornaments, scenes of folk life and labor are often presented.

In monuments literature During the period of feudal fragmentation, the ideas of the ruling class were carried out. Her best creations, calling on the princes to peace and defend the independence of their homeland, reflect the aspirations of the broad masses of the people.

As part of the annals, stories about princes (about Andrei Bogolyubsky, Izyaslav Mstislavich Volynsky, etc.), about major historical events - about the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders, etc., are preserved in these stories. These stories contain many details that indicate an increase in interest in the human personality, to the actions and experiences of individuals.

The greatest monument of Russian culture of the XII century. is "The Lay of Igor's Campaign."

The development of Russian culture in the XII-XIII centuries. took place in close connection with the further development of the Russian people.

In the Russian land and during the period of feudal fragmentation, a common language was preserved (in the presence of various dialects) and common civil and church legal norms were in force. The people were alien to feudal strife and kept the memory of the former unity of Russia. This is reflected primarily in epics.

The culture experienced a further rise. Local centers of culture arose (Vladimir, Novgorod, etc.).

Craft. Blacksmithing, silver and gold processing are being improved. Since the XII century. water mills are used.

Chronicle. All-Russian annals were replaced by local ones. The number of centers of chronicle writing has increased (Vladimir, Suzdal, Galich, etc.), and its local peculiarities are taking shape. The Novgorod Chronicles were characterized by efficiency and simplicity of presentation of events, the absence of church rhetoric. The Vladimir-Suzdal chronicle was of a religious nature, it affirmed the idea of a strong princely power, the claim of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes to supremacy.

Literature. The pearl of literature of the XII century. is an "A word about Igor's regiment" telling about the unsuccessful campaign of the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavich(1151-1202) on the Polovtsian Khan Konchak v 1185 d. The unknown author calls on the princes to stop strife, to unite in the struggle against the nomads: "My brother said to his brother:" This is mine, and that is mine. " And the nasty ones from all sides came with victories to the Russian land ”). Some scholars consider this monument to be a forgery of the 18th century. (A. A. Zimin). DS Likhachev proved its authenticity.

Known works of the bishop from the city of Turov Kirill Turovsky(1130-1182) and the metropolitan from the city of Smolensk Klimenta SmallI amticha († 1164). "Kiev-Pechersk PaterandTo"Contains teachings, lives of the saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. "The Word of Daniel the Imprisoned" and "Prayer of Daniel the Imprisoned" criticize the willfulness of the boyars, advocate the strengthening of the princely power and state in the face of foreign danger.

Architecture. Typical building of the XII century. was a cubic temple of a cross-domed style with light drum and the head of the helmet-shaped form (temple - "hero").

Monumental rigor and simplicity of forms are characteristic of Novgorod architecture. The temples of Novgorod are outwardly modest, but they are in perfect harmony with the harsh northern nature: churches Savior on Nereditsa, Peter and Paul on Titmouse, Paraskevy Fridays... In the beginning. XII century artel of the master Petra erected cathedrals in Antonievsky and Yurievsky monasteries, churches Nikola on the Yaroslavov Dvorishche.

The Vladimir-Suzdal architecture, in contrast to the harsh architecture of Novgorod, was distinguished by the grace and sophistication of carving on white stone - limestone blocks measuring 50 by 50 cm. The influence of the European Romanesque style expressed in arcature-columnar belts and drankI am fear... Under Andrei Bogolyubsky, fortress walls and towers were built in Vladimir (ramparts and Golden gate), in 1158-1161. built Assumption Cathedral, in 1165 - a church Cover on the Nerl, and in Bogolyubovo a castle was erected - the residence of the prince. (There is an assumption that the builders were Europeans - Germans or Italians). In 1194-1197. Vsevolod built the Big Nest in Vladimir Dmitrovsky Cathedral characterized by the wealth of stone carvings as well St. George Cathedral in the city of Yuryev-Polsky.

Painting ... Icon " Our Lady of Vladimir"(" Our Lady of Bogolyubskaya "), a wonderful work of Byzantine art early. XII century, differs in softness, depth of feelings. A mosaic icon of the 12th century is known. " Dmitry Solynsky»From the Mikhailovsky Cathedral in Kiev (now in the Tretyakov Gallery). Novgorod painters of the XII century. created icons " Angel Golden Hair», « Savior Not Made by Hands", Frescoes of the church Savior on Nereditsa.

Sculpture in Russia it was poorly developed, in temples it was forbidden due to the struggle against pagan idols. Woodcarving was a characteristic feature of dwellings and wooden temples.

Everyday life - the way of everyday life of the people (food, clothing, housing, health maintenance, recreation, entertainment). Everyday life develops and changes under the influence of the level of culture, geographical conditions and influences the formation of personality, mentality.

Marriage customs . In Russia, as in Western Europe, early marriages were practiced. According to church norms, adults were considered to be people who had reached the age of 12-14. Vsevolod the Big Nest married his son Konstantin at the age of 10, and married his daughter Verkhuslava at the age of 8.

Dwelling ... The princely mansions were built of wood, later - of stone. Glass in windows until the 16th century. replaced mica. Daughter of Yaroslav the Wise Anna Yaroslavna, who married King Henry I of France, was surprised by the provinciality and dullness of Paris in the 11th century. compared to lavishly decorated Kiev.

The rural population lived in villages all... The center of several weights was churchyard- a village with a church. Log huts with earthen floors were heated without a chimney, in black, lit with a torch. The windows were tightened with a bull bubble. Ordinary people used earthenware or wooden dishes. We slept on benches, without pillows.

There were two types of residential buildings:

-northern(log walls, raised above the ground floor, large stove);

-southern(the floor is deepened, a small adobe stove-heater).

Nutrition . The basis of the diet was made up of plant and animal products - bread, vegetables, fish, less often - meat. Potatoes replaced turnips. The Russians did not know strong alcohol, they drank honey intoxicated drinks.

Cloth ... The main type of clothing was a shirt: made of expensive fabrics from the nobility, rough homespun votola among the commoners. The men wore long pants - " ports, or leggings". The outerwear of ordinary people was retinue- a long, tight-fitting robe. Women's clothing - sundress, headscarf - ubrus. The princes wore cloaks fastened on the shoulder - " badly"And fur coats (" casings"), leather boots. Lapti- gypsies With onychami were peasant shoes. Nobility, following Byzantine traditions, wore underwear. Anna Yaroslavna impressed the French royal court not only with her literacy, but also with the use of her nightgowns.

Zhealth . Anthropologists believe that in Russia the average life expectancy was 32–44 years, and in Western Europe - 30–35 years. Common diseases were scurvy, rickets, caries - diseases associated with a lack of food and poor nutritional quality. The overcrowding of the urban population created conditions for the spread of plague epidemics.

Was widespread bath... In Nestor's PVL, a description of the Novgorod bath is given: “The wooden baths will be worn and undressed and will be naked. And they will douse themselves with strong kvass, and take the young rods, and beat themselves and finish themselves off to that, as soon as they come out alive. And they will be doused with icy water, and so will come to life. And they do that every day, they are not tormented by anyone, but they torment themselves. And then they do it to themselves, and not torture. " Russia in the development of hygiene skills was ahead of Europe, where there was a ban on washing away dirt from the body by the Catholic Church.

Entertainment . The nobility was amused by falconry and hound hunting ( "Loves") and squad feasts. The common people sang songs, danced in circles, played the harp and flutes, arranged buffoonery and games.

In this way, the culture of Ancient Rus before the Mongol conquest was strongly influenced by Byzantium, developed in a common channel with Western European culture.

In the process of feudalization, the Old Russian state was fragmented into a number of separate, to a certain extent independent, principalities and lands. Feudal fragmentation, which was a natural stage in the historical development of Russia, was a consequence of the economic isolation of individual principalities. The growth of large-scale property and the spread of product rent during this period created more favorable conditions for the further development of the economy. At the same time, the result of the fragmentation was the intensification of princely strife. In the conditions of constant internecine wars, the foreign policy position of Russia worsened, and in the end, as a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, she lost her independence.

Agriculture and the situation of the peasants

During the period of feudal fragmentation, significant shifts took place in the country's productive forces, and agricultural technology improved. So, for example, in the territory located along the Dniester, as the excavation materials show, the population used a trash (a plow knife installed in front of a share) when plowing virgin lands with a plow, a share for cultivating old arable land and small plowshares for pre-sowing soil cultivation. The water mill was used for grinding grain. In the central regions of Russia, along with the undercutting and fallowing, a three-field farming system was spreading, the Russian people developed vast areas of new lands, especially in the north-east of the country (in the Volga region, in the basin of the Northern Dvina, etc.). New field, garden and horticultural crops appeared. The number of livestock grew.

Changes took place in the position of the peasants during the period of feudal fragmentation. The number of peasants dependent on feudal lords increased. In the Novgorod and Suzdal lands, for example, ladles and hostages appeared. Ladies were called smerds who were obliged to give the feudal lord a share of the harvest as a quitrent; hostages - peasants who left the former landowner and entered into dependence (“mortgage”) on another. In the Smolensk land, forgiveness were known - peasants, dependent on church feudal lords, who took from them a rent (with honey and "kunami" - money) and had the right to judge them.

The peasant, obliged to pay the owner the feudal rent in products, received greater economic independence and had greater opportunities for displaying his own labor initiative than the corvée. Therefore, with the development (along with corvee) of rent in products, the productivity of the peasant's labor increased. He was able to produce a certain surplus of products that he could turn into a commodity on the market. The beginnings of property stratification of the peasantry appeared.

The expansion of ties between the peasant economy and the market contributed to the growth of cities, the development of handicrafts and trade in them, and the development of commodity production. In turn, the feudal lords, selling products obtained at the expense of natural taxes, purchased expensive weapons, fabrics, overseas wines and other luxury goods in the cities. The desire to increase their wealth pushed the feudal lords to increase the quota, to intensify the exploitation of the peasantry.

The peasants were an estate, an unequal category of the population. In the annals, when describing the "exploits" of the feudal lords, captive peasants and slaves were mentioned along with cattle. The Church sanctified this order, regarding the murder of a "complete servant" (that is, a slave) by the master not as "murder", but only as "a sin before God." If a slave ran, a chase would dress up after him, and the one who gave him bread and showed him the way had to pay a fine. But the one who detained the slave received a reward for "overeating". True, the property rights of slaves have expanded somewhat. The agreement of 1229 between Smolensk and German cities speaks of the right of slaves to transfer their property by inheritance.

The rise of feudal land tenure

The period of feudal fragmentation in Russia is characterized by the rapid growth of large-scale land ownership and the struggle of the feudal lords for land and for the peasants. The princely possessions included both cities and villages. For example, the Galician-Volyn prince Daniil Romanovich owned the cities of Kholm, Danilov, Ugrovesk, Lvov, Vsevolozh, and others. Boyar and church land tenure also grew. Novgorod, Galician and Vladimir-Suzdal boyars were especially wealthy.

New monasteries appeared in different parts of the country. Bishop Simon of Vladimir (XIII century) boasted of the wealth of his bishopric - land and income from the population ("tithe"). Throughout Russia, the patrimonial economy, which retained its natural character, expanded significantly. Boyar courtyards expanded. The former boyar servants (some of whom carried corvee) turned into courtyard people.

The growth of feudal property was accompanied by the strengthening of the political power of the landowners, who had the right to judge their peasants and were responsible to the state for the fulfillment of their state duties, primarily taxes. Gradually, a large landowner himself became a "sovereign" in his possessions, sometimes dangerous for the princely power.

Struggle within the ruling class

Among the landowners were feudal lords of various ranks with different political rights. The great dukes - in Galich, in Vladimir and even in the relatively small Ryazan - were considered the heads of their principalities, but in fact they had to share power with other feudal lords. The grand-ducal power, striving to implement a unifying policy, faced both boyar and church nobility. In this struggle, the local grand dukes found support from small and medium-sized service feudal lords - noblemen and boyar children. Free servants, boyar children, noblemen - these are usually the younger members of the princely and boyar squads, who constituted the most numerous group of the ruling class. They owned the land, some conditionally, while they served, and were the support of the Grand Duke, supplying him with an army consisting of dependent smerds - peshtsy (infantrymen). The princely power expanded the ranks of the nobles, attracting them to itself by distributing lands. Part of the war booty went to the nobles.

The severity of the struggle within the class of feudal lords can be judged by the works of social and political thought. The defender of the strong princely power, the spokesman for the views of the then nobility, Daniel Zatochnik sharply denounced the secular and spiritual nobility: “A fat horse snores at its master like an enemy; so the strong, rich boyar is plotting evil against his prince. " “It would be better for me,” Daniel says to the prince, “to serve in bast shoes in your house than in morocco boots in the boyar’s yard.” Daniil Zatochnik expressed the idea of the need for the participation of the nobles in government: of them, and not of the "lords without wits," the "princely Duma members" should be made.

Although the tendency towards centralization of the country was developed at that time in Russia, it could not end with a lasting victory of the grand ducal power. More than once the "young" boyars and "nobility", the rich, took the place of the "old" and, colliding with individual princes in feudal wars, overturned their attempts to unite large territories. The economic conditions are not yet ripe for the triumph of the tendency towards unity. The struggle for land among the ruling class led to constant clashes. Often the princes devastated the land of their opponents so that they did not leave "neither servant nor cattle" in them. The princely detachments stayed in the villages and took away all household supplies.

Town

A very important factor in the economic and political history the period of developed feudalism in Russia became a city. It was a craft, trade and administrative center for the surrounding lands, as well as a gathering point for their military forces. Describing the important role of large cities, the chronicler reports that residents of the suburbs came here for veche meetings, for whom the decisions of the "oldest cities" were mandatory.

The number of cities (large and small) has grown since the 11th century. more than three times, and by the 13th century, only according to incomplete data from the chronicles, it reached almost three hundred. The flourishing of urban craft continued until the Mongol invasion. Archaeological material allows us to speak about the existence of up to 60 different craft specialties. Even in small urban centers there were complex blast furnaces for making iron, there were several systems of potter's furnaces, etc. Chroniclers unanimously describe the cities as large craft and trade centers, where significant stone construction is underway. The remarkable princely palace in Bogolyubov, magnificent churches decorated with stone carvings in Vladimir, Novgorod, Galich, Chernigov and other cities, water pipes and pavements, partly preserved to this day and discovered by Soviet archaeologists, characterize the achievements of ancient Russian masters.

Russian artisans performed a wide variety of jobs. For example, in Vladimir-on-Klyazma, some local artisans poured tin, others covered roofs, and still others whitewashed the walls. In Galicia-Volyn Rus, in the town of Kholm, bells were cast and a platform for the local church was cast from copper and tin. It is not for nothing that images characterizing handicraft work were widely used in the literature of that time: “As tin, often melted, perishes, so a person withers from much trouble”; “You can boil iron, but you cannot teach an evil wife,” wrote Daniel Zatochnik.

Trade developed along with handicrafts. The sales area for the products of village craftsmen was still insignificant, while the sales area for urban craftsmen, who worked on order for boyars and vigilantes, reached 50-100 km. Many city craftsmen (Kiev, Novgorod, Smolensk) worked for the market. Some, though not numerous, products were sold for hundreds of kilometers, and some works of artisans went abroad (to Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden).

Trade within the principalities developed. Merchants traveled across Russian lands, merchant caravans, numbering several hundred people, passed by. Galician merchants brought salt to Kiev, Suzdal merchants delivered bread to Novgorod, etc.

The princes received various incomes from trade: gostina tribute - from merchants (guests), taverns - duties with writhing; myta - duties for the right to transport goods; transportation - for transportation across the river, etc. The princes more and more often included in contracts with each other an article stating that merchants had the right to free passage through customs outposts. But in the conditions of the dominance of feudal fragmentation and frequent wars, these trade ties were often cut off. The economy as a whole continued to be natural.

Foreign trade reached a significant scale at this time. Thus, “guests” from Byzantium and other countries came to Vladimir-on-Klyazma. Large cities - Novgorod, Smolensk, Vitebsk, Polotsk concluded trade agreements with German cities (treaties of 1189, 1229, etc.). Russian merchant associations won more and more stable positions in neighboring lands. In Constantinople, Riga, Bolgar there were "Russian streets".

The political importance of the urban trade and craft population has greatly increased. Craftsmen of the largest cities united in "streets", "rows" and "hundreds", had their own churches, built in honor of one or another "saint" - the patron of the craft, and their own treasury. Handicraft associations gathered to discuss their affairs, elected elders. The merchants also had their own organizations.

The leadership of both merchant associations (such as the buckwheat who traded with Byzantium, the Chudinians who traded with the Baltic States, the Oonezhians who traded with the peoples of the North, etc.) and craft corporations were in the hands of the trade and craft elite, closely associated with the boyar nobility. ... Large merchants and usurers sharply opposed the urban artisan poor - the smaller people.

Feudal lords plundered and ravaged cities during constant internecine wars. Under these conditions, the townspeople strove to free their city from the rule of the boyars and minor princes and enter into an agreement with any major prince. Thus, the cities received certain guarantees in the event of feudal wars and at the same time sought from the local grand dukes the recognition of their privileges, who primarily protected the rights of wealthy citizens. The cities, which contributed to the establishment of political fragmentation in the country at an early stage in the development of feudalism, gradually turned into a force that, along with the nobility, more and more energetically contributed to the unification of more significant regions into the great principalities.

Class struggle

No matter how complex and contradictory the relations between the individual groups of the ruling class were, this entire class as a whole opposed the peasantry, which continued to fight its oppressors. The forms of the peasant struggle against the feudal lords were varied: escapes, damage to the property of the master, extermination of cattle, arson of estates, the murder of representatives of the princely administration, and finally, open uprisings.

Repeated uprisings broke out in cities. The struggle against the landowning nobility, the internal differentiation of the urban population, the growth of debt enslavement of artisans, frequent wars, etc. - all this worsened the already difficult situation of the urban poor and led to uprisings. In these uprisings, the urban poor and the peasantry often acted in concert. Thus, a great uprising of the peasantry and the urban poor broke out in 1136 in Novgorod, when the Novgorodians, together with the Pskovians and Ladoga residents, expelled Prince Vsevolod, who oppressed the smerds. But the fruits of the uprising were appropriated by the boyars, who established a feudal republic in Novgorod, independent of the Kiev grand dukes.

The uprising in Kiev in 1146. Miniature from the Radziwill Chronicle. XV century.

In 1207, a new major uprising took place in Novgorod. It was directed primarily against the mayor Dmitry, who came from a family of wealthy boyars Miroshkinichi, who cruelly oppressed the urban and rural poor and engaged in usurious operations. The movement, which began in the city, received a wide response in the countryside. The rebels destroyed the courtyards and villages of Miroshkinichi, seized the promissory notes they had taken from the enslaved "black people", and divided the boyar property among themselves.

The reason for the popular movement of 1174-1175. in the Vladimir-Suzdal land, there was a performance by part of the rich warriors who entered into an alliance with the boyars and betrayed Prince Andrei Yuryevich Bogolyubsky. The prince was killed, his castle was plundered. The boyars seized power. At this time, a peasant uprising broke out. The peasants began to destroy the representatives of the princely administration, which mainly consisted of nobles. This forced the feudal lords to look for a strong prince again. Local cities headed by Vladimir, fearing the autocracy of the boyars, also stood for a strong princely power. Ultimately, the popular uprising was suppressed.

"Russian Truth" according to the Synoidal List (fol. 1). 1282 BC

In 1146, after the death of the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Olgovich, who seized Kiev, the local trade and craft population revolted and dealt with the princely administration. Kievans fought for city liberties, protesting against the transfer of Kiev by inheritance to the princes of Chernigov.

In Galicia-Volyn Rus, popular movements took place in the 40s of the XII century. The Galician prince Vladimirko Volodarevich, who then fought against the Kiev prince over Volhynia, failed and lost some cities. This was reflected in the attitude of other cities towards him, which began to support the Kiev prince. When the troops of the latter besieged Zvenigorod, the townspeople gathered veche and opposed Vladimirka. But the princely voivode suppressed the movement of the townspeople. He captured three men who headed the veche, ordered them to be hacked to death and thrown into the fortress ditch. Revolted against Prince Vladimirka and the townspeople of Galich. After the Galicians, forced to surrender by military force, opened the gates to the prince, he killed many people, and executed many "with an evil execution." A large movement of peasants took place in the Galician land in the 40s of the XIII century.

Political system and state apparatus

With the dismemberment of the Old Russian state in different Russian lands during the XII-XIII centuries. the political significance of the landowning nobility grew and at the same time there was a struggle against them by the grand ducal power, which led to unequal results. Such strong princes as, for example, the Vladimir-Suzdal princes, after the decline of Kiev, managed to curb the local boyars for a while. In some lands, for example in Novgorod, the landowning nobility won a victory over the princes. Finally, in the Galicia-Volyn land, a fierce struggle between the strong boyars and the princes went on with varying success. In the rest of the principalities, as far as the scarce sources can be judged, events developed in one of the indicated directions.

As certain lands were liberated from the rule of the Kiev Grand Dukes, the power of the latter increasingly fell into decay. The general Russian significance of the Kiev grand-ducal power diminished, although it did not completely disappear. The grand-ducal Kiev table turned into an apple of discord between the strongest rulers of other principalities. The real state power was in the hands of the feudal lords who headed the individual principalities, while the rulers of the largest of them over time began to advocate for the unification of the country themselves, declaring themselves the great princes of all Russia.

In all Russian lands at this time there was a further development and strengthening of the administrative apparatus, which protected the interests of the feudal lords. Chronicles and legal monuments mention a large number of various military, administrative, financial and other bodies of state and palace power. "Russkaya Pravda", the main guide for the court, was supplemented with new legal norms and operated in all lands of Russia. Prisons served as places of imprisonment: logs, cellars, dungeons - deep dark pits, tightly sealed with wood, where, according to sources, prisoners were suffocating more than once.

An important place in the state apparatus belonged to the army, in which great importance received feudal squads and city regiments. Among them were the boyars who served the prince with their courts. The main part of the troops was still foot people's militias, the number of which reached 50-60 thousand people in some principalities. The disunity of the principalities, the strife of the princes, dispersed and weakened the military forces of the country. At the same time, armament technology did not stand still. Fortifications were improved, city fortifications, stone towers, etc. were erected. Siege and throwing weapons (slings, rams) began to be used more widely in the defense and siege of cities.

Further development was received by legal norms regulating the relations of Russian principalities with foreign states, as can be seen, for example, from the treaties of Novgorod with the Livonian Order, Sweden and Norway, Galicia-Volyn Rus - with Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and the Teutonic Order.

Vladimir-Suzdal land

As a result of the dismemberment of the Old Russian state on the territory of Russia in the XI-XII centuries. over a dozen large principalities were formed - Vladimir-Suzdal, Polotsk-Minsk, Turovo-Pinsk, Smolensk, Galicia-Volyn, Kiev, Pereyaslavskoe, Chernigov, Tmutarakanskoe, Murom and Ryazan, as well as the feudal republics - Novgorod and Pskov. The most important of the isolated lands was the Rostov-Suzdal (later Vladimir-Suzdal) principality - the main part of the future Great Russia. In the Rostov-Suzdal land, a prerequisite for strengthening the princely power was the presence of early princely possessions and cities that arose on the basis of local handicrafts and associated with trade, which was conducted with the East along the Volga and with Western Europe along the system of rivers connecting the Rostov-Suzdal land with the Baltic by the sea.

The Rostov-Suzdal land came out of the power of Kiev in the 30s of the XII century, when Monomakh's son Yuri Vladimirovich (1125-1157), nicknamed Dolgoruky, reigned in it. He was the first of the Suzdal princes to seek predominance in Russia. Under him, the influence of the Rostov-Suzdal land extended to Novgorod, Murom and Ryazan, and, in addition, a strong alliance was established with the Galician land. Wanting to unite power in Russia in his hands, Yuri strove to gain a foothold in Kiev. Suzdal troops captured this capital city. However, after the death of Yuri, the Kiev citizens hastened to break their dependence on the Suzdal princes, plundering the courtyards of Yuri, his supporters and merchants throughout the Kiev land.

Rostov-Suzdal Rus in the middle of the XII century. experienced a significant economic recovery. An agricultural culture developed here. New cities were built and grew - Vladimir-on-Klyazma, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Polsky, Zvenigorod, Dmitrov and others. Moscow was founded (it was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1147), which later became the center of unification of feudal-fragmented Russia in a single state.

Yuri's successor, Prince Andrey Yuryevich Bogolyubsky (1157-1174), relying on the nobility and supported by the townspeople of Rostov, Suzdal and residents of other cities, resolutely fought against the rebellious boyars. He made Vladimir his capital, where there was a strong trade and artisan posad, appropriated the title of Grand Duke of all Russia and sought to extend his power to Kiev and Novgorod. Continuing to compete with the Volyn princes, Andrei Bogolyubsky organized in 1169 a campaign of the combined Suzdal, Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk-Minsk and other regiments to Kiev, seized it and took many riches to his land, transferring the ancient capital to one of his protégés under control. This completed the decline of Kiev. Novgorod was forced to take on the reign of persons pleasing to Andrei. But the unifying policy of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky was unexpectedly interrupted. He was killed, as mentioned above, by conspirators from among the boyars and wealthy vigilantes. His successor Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest (1177-1212) suppressed the resistance of the feudal nobility and executed a number of boyars. The author of "The Lay of Igor's Regiment", emphasizing the strength and might of his regiments, wrote that they could "splash the Volga with oars, and drain the Don with helmets."

The Chernigov and Smolensk princes, who ruled in Kiev, considered Vsevolod their "master". Vsevolod thought about joining his possessions and Galician land. Novgorod princes and mayors were Vladimir's henchmen, and even the local archbishop was actually appointed by Vsevolod. By this time, the Vladimir princes had broken the "disobedience" of the Ryazan princes. According to the figurative expression of the author of The Lay of Igor's Regiment, Vsevolod could shoot them like “living arrows”. The Vladimir-Suzdal princes strove to consolidate their power in the basin of the Volga, Kama (where the Mordovians and Mari lived) and the Northern Dvina, where Russian colonization was heading. Fortress cities such as Ustyug and Nizhny Novgorod (1221) were founded. Trade was conducted with the peoples of the Caucasus along the Volga. In addition, there were political ties with Transcaucasia.

Hovgorod-Pskov land

Novgorod land bordered on Vladimir-Suzdal land in the southeast, Smolensk in the south and Polotsk in the southwest. Novgorod possessions stretched far to the east and north, up to the Urals and the Arctic Ocean. A number of fortresses guarded the approaches to Novgorod. Ladoga was located on the Volkhov, protecting the trade route to the Baltic Sea. The largest Novgorod suburb was Pskov.

Possessing the shores of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland, Novgorod was closely connected with the Estonian, Latvian and Karelian lands, in which the Novgorod boyars collected tribute from the population. Tribute was also collected from the land of the Emi (Finns) and from the land located north of it, up to the borders of Norway, the land of the Sami (Lapps). Finally, tribute collectors, accompanied by armed detachments, were also sent from Novgorod to the Novgorod possessions in the north along the Terek coast of the White Sea and in Zavolochye (as the vast lands to the east of Beloozero inhabited by various peoples were called).

The main occupation of the Novgorod peasantry was agriculture, the technique of which reached a level significant for that time. However, the development of agriculture was not favored by soil and climatic conditions, and it could not meet the needs of the population. Along with agriculture, various trades have developed: hunting for fur and sea animals, fishing, salt extraction. Iron mining played an important role in the occupations of the rural population. Novgorod was one of the largest handicraft and shopping centers Europe.

After the uprising of 1136, a boyar republic was formed in Novgorod Rus, dominated by large feudal lords. A similar public organization also developed in the Pskov land. Formally, the supreme power belonged to the veche. However, in reality, the veche was in the hands of the boyars, although they had to reckon with his opinion, especially if the veche decision was supported by armed actions of the urban "black people". The archbishop played the largest role in the political life of Novgorod. The boyar council gathered under his chairmanship. From among the boyars, the mayor and the tysyatskiy were confirmed at the veche, who exercised executive power in the city.

In their struggle with the boyars, the artisan population of the city won certain rights. A large force was the unification of the konchans (residents of urban areas - the ends of Goncharny, Plotnitsky, etc.), the convicts (residents of the streets) and merchant brotherhoods. Each end had its own elective self-government and had some power over a certain territory of the Novgorod region. But even these authorities remained under the control of the boyars. The princely power also survived in Novgorod. But the princes were invited by the veche and their rights were very limited, although they received certain income from government, court and trade.

The first 100 years (1136-1236) of the existence of the Novgorod boyar republic, up to the Mongol invasion, were characterized by an acute class struggle, which more than once resulted in open uprisings of the urban poor and peasants. At the same time, the role of the merchants increased, some of which sided with the powerful Vladimir-Suzdal princes.

The Vladimir-Suzdal princes strengthened their positions in Novgorod. They seized the land here, appropriated the rights of court and collection of taxes. The resistance of Novgorod to the policy of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes led to repeated clashes, the consequences of which were hard on the position of the masses. It was especially difficult for Novgorodians when there were breaks in the supply of Volga grain. When in 1230, a lean year, a severe famine broke out in the Novgorod land, the Vladimir prince closed trade routes, and the boyars and merchants began speculating in bread. Driven to despair, the poor began to set fire to the houses of rich people who kept rye, and to seize these reserves.

Galicia-Volyn land

Galician land occupied the northeastern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. In the north, it bordered on the territory of Volyn, in the north-west - with Poland, in the south-west the "Ugorsk Mountains" (Carpathians) separated it from Hungary. In the mountains and behind them lay the Carpathian Rus, in large part captured by the Hungarian feudal lords in the XI century. Part of Carpathian Rus (with the cities of Brasov, Barduyev, etc.) remained in Galician land. In the southeast, the lands of the Galician principality included the lands stretching from the Southern Bug to the Danube (on the territory of modern Moldova and Northern Bukovina).

The Galician land, the ancient center of which was Przemysl, became isolated by the beginning of the 12th century. into a separate principality ruled by the great-grandchildren of Yaroslav the Wise. The strong boyars that had developed here sought help from the Hungarian and Polish feudal lords in their quarrels with the princes and for a long time hindered the political consolidation of the country. The Volyn land, named from the ancient city of Volyn on the Guchva River, occupied a vast territory in the basin of the Western Bug and the upper reaches of the Pripyat with its tributaries. Volhynia and Galicia have been especially closely connected with each other for a long time.

Plow agriculture has long been known here. In the Galician land there were rich salt mines and salt was exported. The development of iron-making, jewelry, pottery and leather crafts has reached a high level in the Galicia-Volyn land. There were over 80 cities in this region. Being at the intersection of numerous water and land roads, the Galicia-Volyn land played a prominent role in European trade. In the XII century. Galinka and Volyn principality experienced a significant rise. Already Vladimirko Volodarevich (1141-1153) united under his rule all the Galician lands, including the Danube cities (Berlad and others). Around the same time, it came out of the power of Kiev and Volhynia.

The time of the reign of Yaroslav Vladimirovich Osmomysl (1153-1187), one of the largest political figures in Russia in the 12th century, was marked by the further rise of the Galician land and, in particular, the widespread construction of new cities. Yaroslav Osmomysl, with the help of the Volyn princes, defeated the troops of the Kiev prince and forced him to abandon his attempt to establish himself in the Danube lands. Yaroslav made peace with Byzantium, and an alliance with Hungary sealed the marriage of his daughter to King Stephen (Istvan III). At the end of the XII century. Galician and Volyn lands united under the rule of the Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich (1199-1205). Seeking to strengthen the princely power, he relied on an agreement with the cities and, above all, with the elite of the urban population - "molded men", to whom he granted a number of privileges. Roman weakened the Galician boyars, he exterminated part of it, and some of the boyars fled to Hungary. The boyars' lands were seized by the prince and used by him for distribution to the squad. Having overcome the resistance of the Suzdal prince Vsevolod, Yuryevich, Roman's troops occupied Kiev (1203), after which he proclaimed himself the Grand Duke.

The Roman curia sought an "alliance" with Prince Roman, but he rejected Pope Innocent III's proposal. Having supported the struggle of the Hohenstaufens with the Welfs, Roman in 1205 set out on a large campaign against the Welf's ally - the Krakow prince Leshko, setting the goal of then moving to Saxony. However, the death of Roman on the campaign prevented the implementation of these broad plans and facilitated the destruction of the unity of the Galician and Volyn principalities that arose under him.

A long and devastating feudal war began (1205-1245), in which the boyars, acting with the help of the Hungarian and Polish feudal lords, seized power in the Galician land. Under the treaty in Spisz (1214), the Hungarian and Polish feudal lords, with the sanction of the papal curia, tried to divide Galicia-Volyn Russia among themselves. However, the masses thwarted these calculations. As a result of the popular uprising that gripped the country, the Hungarian garrisons were expelled.

In Volyn, with the support of the service boyars and townspeople, the princes Daniil and Vasilko Romanovich established themselves, and with a battle they ousted the Polish feudal lords from the borders of the Russian land (1229). Daniel's troops, with the active help of the townspeople, inflicted a number of defeats on the Hungarian feudal lords and the Galician boyars. Prince Daniel distributed the captured boyar lands to the noble warriors. He maintained friendly relations with Lithuania and Mazovia, as well as with the Austrian Duke Frederick II, who was hostile to Hungary. The struggle for the independence of Galician Rus was bloody and dragged on for many years. Only in 1238 Daniel finally took possession of the Galician principality, and then Kiev, thus uniting the vast lands of South-Western Russia under his rule.

Polotsk-Minsk land

The Polotsk-Minsk land occupied the territory along the Western Dvina and Berezina rivers, bordering on the Novgorod, Smolensk and Turovo-Pinsk lands. In the northwest, the possessions of the Polotsk princes extended to the lower reaches of the Western Dvina, where the cities of Ersike and Koknese stood. Part of the population of the Lithuanian and Latvian lands recognized the power of the Polotsk princes and paid tribute to them.

The main occupation of the inhabitants of the Polotsk-Minsk land was agriculture, although soil conditions little favored this. Polotsk constantly needed imported bread. Hunting for fur-bearing animals, fishing, bee-keeping are widespread here. Furs were exported abroad (to the island of Gotland and to Lubeck). Feudal relations developed early in the Polotsk-Minsk land and a number of cities arose - Izyaslavl, Vitebsk, Usvyat, Orsha, Kopys, etc.

The Polotsk-Minsk land was subordinated to the Kiev princes for a short time. Already under Vladimir Svyatoslavich, she passed into the possession of his son Bryachislav. The successor of the latter, Vseslav Bryachislavich (1044-1101), relying on the squad and using the help of the cities, held power over the entire Pododko-Minsk land in his hands. The time of the reign of Vseslav, according to the "Lay of Igor's Host", was the time of "glory" for this part of Russia. But then feudal fragmentation intensified. In the 12th century, a number of warring principalities emerged; the most significant of them were Polotsk and Minsk. Internal wars weakened the Polotsk-Minsk land, which gradually lost its former influence in the Eastern Baltic. Despite stubborn resistance, the Polotsk residents were unable to repel the invasion of the German crusaders. The Polotsk prince, under an agreement with Riga (1212), lost the right to pay tribute to the plums, he also lost land in South-Western Latgale. The towns of Jersike and Koknese were captured by German knights. At the beginning of the XIII century. foreign policy Polotsk and Vitebsk were already controlled by the Smolensk prince, concluding treaties on their behalf with German cities.

Russia and neighboring peoples

Russia was surrounded by many non-Slavic peoples. Its influence extended to the peoples of the Baltic states (Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians), Finland and Karelia, some peoples of the North (Nenets, Komi, Ugra), the Volga region (Mordovians, Mari, part of the Bulgarians, Chuvashes and Udmurts), the North Caucasus (Ossetians and Circassians) , as well as the peoples of the Northern Black Sea region (Turkic nomadic tribal unions Polovtsy, Uzov and Torks) and Moldavia. Russia maintained ties with the Transcaucasus (the population of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) and Central Asia.

The level of social development of these peoples was different: some of them still had a primitive communal system, while others had an already established feudal mode of production.

The peoples of the Baltic States in the XI-XII centuries. experienced the time of the formation of feudal relations. They had no states yet. The peasants lived in rural communities, significant groups of which were semi-feudal-semi-patriarchal associations headed by representatives of the landowning nobility - the "best", "oldest" people. Such associations were in Lithuania (Aukshtaitija, Zhemaitija, Deltuva, etc.), in Latvia (Latgale, Zemgalia, Kors, etc.), in Estonia (Läanemaa, Harju County, Sakkala, etc.).

The population of the Baltics was engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and handicrafts, traded with neighbors. In the Baltic States, trade and craft settlements were formed - the embryos of future cities (Lindanis, in the place of which Tallinn grew up, Mezotne, etc.). The population adhered to pre-Christian beliefs. The Estonian epos "Kalevipoeg", Lithuanian and Latvian historical songs and fairy tales are remarkable cultural monuments of this time.

The ancient ties of the Baltic lands with Russia were interrupted at the beginning of the 13th century. the invasion of German and Danish feudal lords. Using the contradictions among the rulers, the crusaders took over the Estonian and Latvian lands. The history of Lithuania developed differently. Here, on the basis of a higher economic development, first a union of princes of different lands (1219) arose, and then an early feudal state was formed with the Grand Duke at its head. The first Lithuanian prince was Mindaugas (1230-1264). The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the help of Russia, managed to defend its independence, repelling the offensive of the German feudal lords.

In the Karelian land, which was part of the possessions of Novgorod Rus, agriculture prevailed with developed industries (hunting and fishing), crafts and trade. With the development of feudal relations in the 70s of the XIII century. The Karelian land was allocated as an independent administrative region of the Novgorod Republic. Christianity began to spread widely among the Karelians. The culture and life of the Karelian people were vividly reflected in outstanding monument of the Karelian-Finnish folk epos - "Kalevala". From the middle of the XII century. Swedish feudal lords began to attack Karelia with the aim of capturing and enslaving it. The Karelians, together with the Russians, repulsed the onslaught of the Swedish invaders and inflicted heavy retaliatory strikes on them.

The Komi people who lived on Vychegda were subject to the Novgorod Republic. The Komi were engaged in hunting and fishing, but they also knew agriculture and handicrafts. The disintegration of the patriarchal communal system began among them, the communal nobility appeared - the elders.

Under the conditions of the tribal system, the Nenets ("Samoyeds") lived on the shores of the White Sea, and on the slopes of the Northern Urals - Yugra. A prominent role in the history of the peoples of the Volga, Kama and Ural regions belonged to the early feudal state of the Volga Bulgarians. They had developed agriculture, and in large cities - Bolgar, Suvar and Bilyar there were various crafts. Russian artisans also lived in Bolgar. Merchants from Russia came to this city, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Iran and other countries. Bulgarian merchants traded in bread with the Vladimir-Suzdal land.

Among the peoples of the Volga region, subject to the Vladimpro-Suzdal principality, the beginning of the formation of class relations was observed only among the Mordovians, who were engaged in agriculture and beekeeping. Here, the "princes" of individual regions stood out. Among other peoples - Mari, Chuvash, Udmurts, the primitive communal system still dominated. Bashkirs - nomads of the Urals have just begun to unite in tribal unions, headed by elders (aksakals). People's assemblies also played an important role here.

The agricultural and cattle-breeding peoples of the North Caucasus - Alans (Ossetians) and Adyghes - had fragile tribal unions. Individual tribal leaders were at enmity with each other. In the pastoralist societies of Dagestan, there were patriarchal-feudal associations headed by local rulers: nusals (in Avaria), shamkhals (in Kumukia), utsmiyas. (in Kaitag). Some of them were dependent on Georgia.

The Crimean population, which consisted of Alans, Greeks, Armenians and Russians, continued to maintain political, commercial and cultural ties with Russia, despite the claim of Byzantium to dominance in the coastal cities - Chersonesos (Korsun), Sudak (Surozh) and Kerch (Korchev). The ties of the peoples of the North Caucasus and Crimea with Russia were weakened by the invasion of the Northern Black Sea region by the Polovtsy (mid-11th century).

On the territory of Moldova, subject to the Galician-Volyn princes, there lived the Slavs and the romanized population, which later developed into the Moldavian nationality. There were cities here: Maly Galich, Byrlad, Tekuch, etc.

A number of peoples that were part of the Old Russian state continued to develop within the framework of the Russian feudal principalities and regions. Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Karelian nationalities were formed in conditions of close communication with the Russian people.

Non-Slavic lands subject to Russia bore the burden of exploitation. Russian princes and boyars enriched themselves at the expense of the oppressed peoples, receiving tribute from them - silver, furs, wax and other values. But at the same time, non-Slavic peoples developed in conditions of economic, political and cultural interaction with Rusyo. Cities were built on the lands of these peoples, Russian peasants and artisans settled, merchants appeared. The local population drew closer to the Russian working people and learned from him more high culture, was drawn into market relations and got acquainted with urban life and writing.

In Central Asia, an unification of Kyrgyz tribes developed, covering lands from Altai mountains to Baikal and the Sayan ridge, as well as the Tuvinian and Minusinsk lands. The Kyrgyz were engaged in cattle breeding, but they knew agriculture and handicrafts and traded with China. By the middle of the XII century. the Kyrgyz fell into dependence on the Kara-Kitays (Khitan), who from North China advanced to Altai and captured the Yenisei and South Semirechye. The domination of the Kara-Kitai, which was difficult for the local population, was undermined by an uprising at the end of the 12th century. Mongolian-speaking tribes of Naimans, who advanced from Altai to Irtysh and East Turkestan. Most of the Naimans subsequently gradually dissolved among various tribes and nationalities (Kyrgyz, Altai, Turkic-speaking tribes of present-day Kazakhstan), completely losing their language. Later, all these lands fell under the rule of the Mongol khans.

Some peoples of the Far East, in particular the population of the Ussuri region, where the ancestors of the Nanais (Golds) lived, the Khoi River basin (the Udyagai tribe - later the Udege), the lower reaches of the Amur (Gilyaks - Nivkhs), were mainly engaged in hunting and lived in a primitive communal system. In the middle of the XII century. they fell under the power of the unification of the Jurchen tribes, who occupied the Khitan possessions and created the Jin state. It included most of Manchuria, North China and Mongolia. This state existed until the beginning of the Mongol conquests.

Some peoples of North-Eastern Siberia and the Far East were at the level of the culture of the Stone Age, settled in semi-underground dwellings, engaged in fishing, hunting and, where conditions allowed, fishing for sea animals. They only raised dogs as pets. This was the way of life of the ancestors of the Ainu and Gilyaks (Nivkhs) on Sakhalin, the Itelmen and Koryaks in Kamchatka, the Yukaghirs in the Kolyma, in the lower reaches of the Lena and Khatanga. In especially harsh natural conditions, the life of the inhabitants of the Arctic (the ancestors of the Eskimos and the coastal Chukchi) proceeded. Ob tribes existed by hunting and fishing - the Mansi (Voguls) and Khanty (Ostyaks), and in the north Western Siberia- Nenets. To the east of the Yenisei, in the East Siberian taiga inhabited the hunting and fishing tribes of reindeer herders - the Evenks. The ancestors of the Yakuts lived in the Baikal region; they bred cattle and horses. The socio-economic system of these peoples remained more or less unchanged until the time when they were under the influence of Russian culture.

The international position of Russia

During the period of feudal fragmentation, Russia, while remaining a large European country, did not have a single state power that would conduct a common foreign policy for the entire country. In the middle of the XII century. Russian princes entered into allied relations with states that were part of mutually hostile coalitions.

Nevertheless, the largest Russian principalities exerted a significant influence on the fate of neighboring countries. Back in 1091, when Byzantium was looking everywhere for help against the Seljuk Turks and Pechenegs, it received military support from the Galician prince Vasilko. In general, the Russian princes took a much more independent position in relation to the church center of Orthodoxy - Byzantium than other European states in relation to the center of Catholicism, Rome.

The papal curia sought to draw Russia into the orbit of its policy, but the most far-sighted papal emissaries already then saw the futility of these hopes. So, at the request of one of the ideologues of militant Catholicism - Bernard of Clairvaux about the possibility of introducing Catholicism in Russia, Bishop Matthew of Krakow in the middle of the 12th century. wrote that "the Russian people, their numbers similar to the stars, do not want to conform to either the Latin or the Greek Church."

Russian princes actively intervened in the international relations of their time. The Vladimir-Suzdal and allied Galician princes maintained diplomatic relations with Byzantium, and their opponents, the Volyn princes, with Hungary. The army of the Galician princes contributed to the strengthening of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and helped at the beginning of the XIII century. Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II to return the throne. Russian princes helped to strengthen the position of Mazovian princes in Poland. Later, the princes of Mazovia were for some time in vassal dependence on Russia.

Separate principalities of Russia had significant armed forces, which were able to repulse and partially subjugate the Polovtsians. The rulers of Byzantium, Hungary, Poland, Germany and other countries strove for dynastic ties with the Russian princes, especially with the strongest of them - the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volyn princes. Rumors about the treasures of Russia amazed the imagination of the medieval chroniclers of France, Germany and England.

Russian travelers visited different countries... So, the Novgorod boyar Dobrynya Yadreykovich visited at the beginning of the XIII century. Byzantium. He left an interesting description of the country's attractions. Chernigov abbot Daniel visited Palestine and also described his journey, made shortly after the first crusade. Chronicles and other monuments show that Russian people are well aware of a number of countries in Europe and Asia.

Nevertheless, the international position of Russia during the period of feudal fragmentation deteriorated significantly. This was noted by contemporaries-publicists. The Lay of the Death of the Russian Land, created in the first half of the 13th century, describes the beauty and wealth of Rus, and at the same time speaks with alarm of the weakening of its international significance. Gone are the days when the sovereigns of neighboring countries trembled on the name of Russia, when the Byzantine emperor, fearing the Grand Duke of Kiev, “sent great gifts to him”, when the German knights rejoiced that they were far “beyond the blue sea”.

The weakening of the foreign policy position of Russia, the reduction of its territory was facilitated by the feudal strife of the princes, which did not stop even when enemies invaded the country. The Polovtsian nomads, having occupied the Northern Black Sea region, made devastating raids on the southern Russian lands, taken prisoners and sold the Russian population into slavery. They undermined the trade and political ties of Russia with the Black Sea region and the countries of the East. This led to the loss of Rus' possessions in the North Caucasus, as well as to the loss of the Taman Peninsula and part of the Crimea, captured by Byzantium. In the west, Hungarian feudal lords captured Carpathian Rus. In the Baltics, the lands of Latvians and Estonians came under attack from German and Danish feudal lords, and the lands of Finns and Karelians came under attack from Sweden. In the XIII century. the Mongol invasion led to the conquest, ruin and dismemberment of Russia itself.

Russian culture in the XII - XIII centuries.

Invaders' invasions and natural disasters resulted in the death of many precious works of architecture, painting, applied arts and literature. The names of ordinary people, who created masterpieces of wall painting and stone carving, the finest silver embossing and monumental architecture, “dreamed of by various cunning”, have hardly survived either. Only a few of the Russian masters are mentioned in the chronicles that have come down to us. These are “stone builders” - Ivan from Polotsk, Pyotr and Korova Yakovlevich from Novgorod, Pyotr Miloneg; Oleksa, who worked in Volhynia for the construction of cities; Volyn "khytrech" Avdey is a master of stone carving. The news about the Kiev artist Alimpia, who painted the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery, survived. The names of the Novgorodian masters-embossers Kosta and Bratila, who left beautiful chased silver vessels, as well as the foundry worker Abraham, whose sculptural self-portrait has survived to our time, are known. It was the labor of peasants and artisans that was the basis for the further development of Russia.

The Russian language and culture were enriched as a result of interaction with the culture of a number of peoples. This interaction is reflected in Suzdal architecture (which traces connections with Georgian and Armenian architecture), in Novgorod painting (in which common motives with Armenian fresco painting are found), in folklore and literature, where there are numerous references to other peoples, about their culture and life.

"Golden Gate" in Vladimir-on-Klyazma. XII century

Despite the dominance of theology, with the growth of experience accumulated in the production and development of education (although it affected only a small part of society), the rudiments of knowledge in the field of the study of nature and history spread in Russia. Literacy grew noticeably among the feudal nobility, nobility and townspeople. In handwritten monuments, praise for "book teaching" was more and more often met, and "mind without books" was likened to a wingless bird: no matter how much one flies up, so a person cannot achieve "perfect mind without books." In teaching, the main aids were the Psalter, the Book of Hours, the Apostle. Common in medieval Europe the biblical idea of the world was set forth in "Six Days", which gave a theological and scholastic description of nature, in the work of Kozma Indikoplov "Topography" and in other works translated into Russia. The Greek chronicles of George Amartolus, John Malala and others introduced Russian readers to ancient history.

Along with healers and "divine healers", doctors appeared - healers. In Kiev, for example, there lived the famous physician Agapit, who knew "what kind of potion heals what kind of ailment." Knowledge in the field of mathematics has increased, which has found application in agriculture and in the calculation of taxes and in the compilation of chronological calculations in the annals.

The development of historical knowledge was vividly reflected in the annals. In all large cities, from Novgorod to Kholm, from Novgorodok to Ryazan, historical chronicles were kept and chronicles compiled (integral historical works, which were the processing of chronicle records). Until our time, only the Vladimir-Suzdal, Volyn and Novgorod chronicles have been partially preserved. Most of them are imbued with the idea of a strong princely power. The close connection of the Letonians with the activities of the princely offices led to the inclusion of business documents - diplomatic, administrative, military - in the annals.

In Russia, as well as in other countries, there was a close connection between the development of handicrafts, applied folk art and architecture. Since the society was dominated by religious ideology, the best examples of architecture were associated with the church, which was also a wealthy customer. With the transition to feudal fragmentation, architectural monuments became characterized by the reduced size of the temples, the simplification of their interior decoration and the gradual replacement of mosaics with frescoes. The dominant type of church architecture was the "cubic" temple with a heavy head. These changes were associated with the rapid spread of stone architecture.

In the Kiev land, the construction of churches and monasteries continued (the Church of the Savior on Berestovo, St. Cyril's Church), but the constant transition of Kiev from one princes to another created unfavorable conditions for the development of art here. A number of outstanding works of art originated in the Vladimir-Suzdal land, in particular in Vladimir-on-Klyazma with its "golden gates", white-stone architecture and stone carvings. There were erected magnificent temples - the Assumption Cathedral, a masterpiece of world architecture, the Dmitrievsky Cathedral with carved stone reliefs, the four-pillar Church of the Intercession on the Nerl with decorative sculpture and the Bogolyubov princely palace, which included a cathedral in its complex of buildings.

Construction was carried out in Rostov, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities of North-Eastern Russia. An example is the St. George Cathedral (30s of the XIII century) in Yuryev-Polsky, the vestibule of which was decorated with stone carvings.

In the Novgorod land of the times of the boyar republic, instead of large cathedrals built by the princes, there appeared more modest, but outstanding in terms of the perfection of forms and artistic painting, temples. Among them, the world famous Church of the Savior-Nereditsa (end of the XII century) in Novgorod ( Barbarously destroyed by the German fascists during the Second World War.). Of great interest, as a monument of art, is the Pskov Church of the Savior in the Mirozhsky Monastery (mid-12th century), painted with frescoes.

The architecture of Galicia-Volyn Rus was no less remarkable. Here are known the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir-Volynsky, the complex of princely palace buildings in Galich, the church of St. Panteleimon, etc. The architecture of Kholm has not survived, but it is known from the chronicle that Prince Daniel ordered to build three churches here, decorated with carved Galician white and Kholm green stone and columns “made of whole stone”. On the way to the city there was a "pillar" with a huge statue of an eagle. Architecture developed in Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Gorodno (Grodno) and other cities. Various civil buildings also appeared - palace princely ensembles in Vladimir, Galich and other cities, using the traditions of the Old Russian "mansion building".

In the visual arts, stylistic diversity has increased, and local folk art often came into conflict with the dominant church ideology. For Novgorod painting (painting of St. Sophia Cathedral, Nikolo-Dvorishchenskaya and Annunciation churches), bright, juicy colors are characteristic. Especially remarkable were the paintings of the Savior-Nereditsa - its walls, vault, pillars and arches. Novgorod icon painting is characterized by the same features as monumental painting, and has its roots in folk art.

The art of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus was peculiar. Local churches were filled with “many different icons and precious stones without number”. But little of this wealth has survived: the remains of the murals of the Assumption and Dmitrievsky Cathedrals, the icon of Dmitry Thessaloniki. Even fewer artistic monuments from other regions of Russia have come down to us.

Applied art and sculpture, less associated with church canons than painting, often reflected in their plots folk games and dances, scenes of struggle, etc. The art of minting coins, seals and stone carving (decoration of cathedrals, stone icons, etc.) reached a significant rise. P.). The motives of folk art are richly reflected in embroidery, as well as in book decorations - headpieces, endings, capital letters, etc., where, along with floral and colored ornaments, scenes of folk life and labor are often presented.

The influence of folk art is also felt in one of the surviving drawings in the margins of the 12th century Pskov manuscript, which depicts a peasant resting, and a shovel is drawn next to him and there is an inscription: "Worker, toil."

In the literary monuments of the period of feudal fragmentation, the ideas of the ruling class were carried out. Her best creations, calling on the princes to peace and defend the independence of their homeland, reflect the aspirations of the broad masses of the people.

Church preaching literature, the ideological orientation of which was to call the population to obey the powers of heaven and earth, is represented by the works of Kliment Smolyatich, Kirill Turovsky and others. These writers were widely educated and used the heritage of ancient literature in their works. The famous scribe Clement Smolyatich (mid-12th century) willingly refers to Omir (Homer), Aristotle and Plato, being attacked for this by representatives of orthodox theology.

The ideology of the ecclesiastical and partly secular nobility was vividly reflected in a remarkable literary monument of the 20s of the 13th century. - "Paterike" of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Imbued with the idea of the superiority of spiritual power over secular, he included 20 edifying stories about the life of this largest church feudal corporation.

A wide range of ideas is contained in an outstanding monument of early aristocratic journalism, preserved in two editions of the 12th-13th centuries - "The Word", or "Praying", by Daniel Zatochnik. The brilliantly educated Daniel skillfully used the treasures of folklore to praise the strong princely power and denounce the autocracy of the secular and ecclesiastical nobility harmful to Russia.

The greatest monument of Russian culture of the XII century. is "The Lay of Igor's Regiment", dedicated to the description of the unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsians (in 1185) of the Norgorod-Seversk Prince Igor Svyatoslavich. The author is a supporter of the unity of the country, the unity of its strongest princes, the unity of the people. For him, the Russian land is all Russia, from the Taman Peninsula to the Baltic States, from the Danube to the Suzdal land. At a time when, as a result of princely strife and Polovtsian raids, “the plowmen rarely shouted across the Russian land, but often crows ravaged, dividing corpses among themselves,” the author praises peaceful labor. Describing one of the bloodiest internecine battles on Nemiga and opposing the world to war, he uses images depicting the work of a peasant-plowman. "The black earth," the author writes, "was sown with bones under the hooves, watered with blood: they ascended in grief across the Russian land."

The Lay is imbued with deep patriotism. The image of the Russian land is central to this work. The author calls on the princes to stand up for their homeland and condemns those of them who are engaged in strife ("forge sedition" and "sow arrows on the ground"). The author draws images of strong and powerful princes (Vsevolod the Big Nest, Yaroslav Osmomysl, etc.), who extended their power over a large territory, glorified in neighboring countries.

Images of folk poetry are generously used in The Lay of Igor's Host. This is felt in the description of nature, in the words of sorrow over the troubles that befell Russia, in those comparisons inherent in folk art, which the author resorted to when describing wars and battles. Unforgettable in brightness are the lyrical female images sung in the Lay (the wife of Prince Igor Evfrosinya Yaroslavna and the "red" Glebovna). The Russian people, through the mouth of the author of the Lay, expressed their call for unity in the name of labor and peace, in the name of defending the homeland.